Vermont Motorists Does Two Dumb Things

Based on media reports, a Vermont motorist is guilty of two counts of “dumbness” while driving a motor vehicle. Jesse Clayton, the 33-year-old motorist, was distracted while writing a text message on his cellphone when he crashed into a police car about 1 a.m. on May 18th. Clayton reportedly came to a momentary halt at a stop sign, but wasn’t paying attention when pulling into the intersection and crashed into the side of the police cruiser that was passing through the intersection. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but both vehicles sustained damages. Clayton was issued several traffic citations.

Texting while driving is illegal in Vermont, punishable by a fine of $100 and two points on a driver’s license for a first offense. This man, who was very fortunate, did two very dumb things:

• He was texting while driving a vehicle.

• He hit a police officer’s car.

Hopefully, laws being passed around the country in a number of states will help stop drivers from texting while driving. But common sense tells all of us it’s a pretty dumb thing to do!